Jaipur foot event in Capitol Hill next week

An event on India's iconic Jaipur foot will be held in the US' Capitol Hill next week, as part of the 'India for Humanity campaign', which was recently supported by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Jaipur foot, a prosthetic limb, was developed in 1968 by a group of eminent orthopaedic surgeons and craftsmen at the SMS. Medical College Hospital, Jaipur. The subsequent developments in the technology, since 1975, were under aegis of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS).

Lakhs of physically challenged people in India and across the world have benefited from the innovative, inexpensive prosthetic limbs.

The Embassy of India and Jaipur Foot USA will hold the 'India for Humanity - Jaipur Foot' event at the Capitol Hill here on November 20, 2019, celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian diplomatic mission said.

The event will focus on Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of compassion, caring and service to humanity, and India's contribution to a series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number of countries.

Former chairman Securities and Exchange Board of India and founder of BMVSS D R Mehta will be the key note speaker, while yoga guru H R Nagendra will attend the event as special guest, said Founder Chairman of Jaipur Foot, USA, Prem Bhandari.

In his address to India-Pacific Islands Developing States Leaders' Meeting at the UN headquarters in New York in September, Prime Minister Modi had offered to organise a Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp in a Pacific regional hub under 'India for Humanity' programme.

Under the Ministry of External Affairs' humanity programme, the BMVSS has held camps in nine countries in the last two years providing as many as 5,152 prosthetic limbs to physically challenged persons.

These countries include Vietnam (1,075 limbs in two camps), Iraq (603), Malawi (551), Nepal (520), Senegal (556), Tanzania (551), Egypt (550), Namibia (400) and Bangladesh (346 limbs).

"These camps have generated enormous goodwill for India as a compassionate country of Mahatma Gandhi," Bhandari said.

The Ministry of External Affairs has also approved similar camps in Syria, Ethiopia and Uganda in which at least 1,500 amputees will be assisted, Bhandari said.